Dear Tennessee Star, In George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece 1984, the unfortunate character Winston is battling desperately to grasp objective truth. Meanwhile the power mongers ruling the Ministry of Truth tell him, “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” Orwell thought he was writing satire; too bad he…
Read More
State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver on Wednesday called a bill that would require seat belts on Tennessee school buses “emotionally-driven” and “bad policy.” Weaver (R-Lancaster) made her comments when the proposed legislation was brought before the House Education Administration and Planning Committee. The bill is sponsored in the House by Rep. JoAnne…
Read More
Rep. Mark White’s (R-Memphis) second bill, HB660, that if left unamended, would have allowed the governing boards of state colleges and universities to grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students, failed in the House Education committee for lack of a majority on a 6-6 vote. During committee testimony, the TN…
Read More
Earlier this week the House Republican Caucus Chair Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville) conducted a secret poll of the House GOP Caucus members to gauge support for the Haslam IMPROVE Act “Tax Cut Act of 2017.” Williams distributed popsicle sticks to members of the Caucus for them to cast their…
Read More
Hillary Clinton has emerged from the woods determining that her election loss is everyone’s fault but her own. But even more surprising was that Donald Trump colluding with the Russians was suddenly no longer the main culprit; no, now it was hatred of women that fueled her loss. But this…
Read More
Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) and Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) have sponsored two bills this session that would grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students. HB863 failed in the House Education committee Tuesday on a 7-6 vote but Rep. White’s other bill, HB660, looks like it will be the first…
Read More
A bill advancing in the Tennessee state legislature would ensure that school districts that allow payroll deductions for union dues would also allow payroll deductions for membership in any professional employee organization. The bill is backed by Professional Educators of Tennessee (ProEd), an association that is not a union and does…
Read More
This is the third part of the second of twenty-five weekly articles in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Series. Students in grades 8 through 12 can sign up here to participate in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Bee, which will be held on September 23. The Separation of Powers between three…
Read More
Montgomery County Commissioner Tommy Vallejos says he plans to run for state Sen. Mark Green’s vacated seat. Green (R-Clarksville) was recently nominated by President Trump to become secretary of the army. There will be a special election to replace Green once he is confirmed. Vallejos, a county commissioner since first…
Read More
How the Teachers Union Has Manipulated the State into Subsidizing Political Action For over three decades the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) has held a privileged position in regard to payroll deduction of membership dues for Tennessee teachers. It is a virtual monopoly that is inherently unfair to both educators and…
Read More